Jewish students feel uned by AMS and istration, while tensions on campus escalate.
This week, Jewish students held rallies on campus and boothed in the Queen’s Centre to campaign for “Bring Them Home Week,” a week of action to Israeli hostages taken on Oct. 7 and in response to “Israeli Apartheid Week.”
“The behaviour directed towards us [Jewish students] over the past week constitutes nothing less than antisemitic bullying,” Nati Pressmann, ArtSci ’25, said in a statement to The Journal.
Roughly 100 students attended the rally in of the hostages in Gaza, chanting “bring them home” and playing Hebrew music while marching down University Ave. A booth raising awareness for the cause was manned by Hillel Queen’s in the Queen’s Centre the following day.
Hillel representatives have called on the AMS and Queen’s istration to Jewish students, which they say has been lacking this year. They pointed to the lack of action by either body following the desecration of Mezuzahs in residence buildings.
“Over the past five months, Jewish students have felt uned and scared on this campus,” a Hillel spokesperson said in a statement to The Journal. “Maintaining a presence during a week that stands to cause Jewish students as much harm as Israeli Apartheid Week often does is imperative to this mission.”
Chabad Kingston, a Jewish organization, raised $930 dollars from a bake sale at the Queen’s Centre for Friends of the Israeli Defense Force, according to an Instagram post.
In Mitchell Hall on March 7, students ing Palestine hosted a rally showing solidarity for the Boycott-Divestment-Sanction (BDS) movement, which calls for divestment from Israel and Israeli companies.
According to Hillel, many Jewish people consider the BDS campaign to be antisemitic, undermining Jewish peoples’ right to self-determination in Israel.
Hillel finds the lack of self-motivation disheartening when it comes to combating antisemitism on campus. Hillel said in the face of antisemitism, Jewish students are ing each other.
“For centuries, the Jewish people have demonstrated strength by singing, dancing, and coming together in hard times and good times—across the street from Stauffer, over 100 Jewish students and allies did just that, holding our heads high,” the Hillel representative said.
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